King Laurin and his Rosengarten
How the mountain got its name
I'm sure you, too, have at some point wondered how the Rosengarten mountain acquired its melodious name. In German, the name Rosengarten has a much more evocative meaning namely "rose garden”. A curious name for a mountain, which has its roots in a legend passed down from generation to generation: that legend of King Laurin.
In ancient times, when the alpine valleys were still home to dwarves and giants, inside the mountain we call Rosengarten, King Laurin ruled over a nation of dwarves. The King had countless treasures, precious beyond imagination and the greatest of them was a cloak that made him invisible. The pride of King Laurin was a
magnificent garden in front of the door of his fortress of stone and rock: here, throughout the year, countless red roses bloomed, bordered by a golden silk thread. Woe to anyone who dared to cut the thread or even pick a rose! Laurin threatened to cut the left hand and right foot of any trespasser.
One day Laurin saw in a nearby castle the beautiful, blonde princess Similde. Falling in love with the human princess, he kidnapped her with the help of his magic cloak. From then on Similde lived in the kingdom of the king, surrounded by gold, silver and precious stones, served and revered by graceful damsels and dwarf knights. Yet Similda was sad, she missed the flowery meadow of her country. Sadness and dismay reigned in the castle of her brother Dietleib. Looking for his sister, he came across Theodoric the Great, king of the Goths. Together with him and other knights he left for the reign of Laurin, the King of the dwarves. Theodoric marvelled at the splendour of the rose garden enclosed with gold threads, but his companions tore up the thread and cut the roses. Then King Laurin, blind with anger rode on his white horse, wanting to cut the scoundrel's hand and foot. An unequal battle broke out. At first Laurin managed to protect himself with his invisibility cloak. But when the cloak was snatched and he was exposed he begged for his life to be spared. In chains, he was forced to lead the winners to his kingdom where Similde was released. Laurin's ploy of having the winner attacked by thousands of dwarves during the feast failed.
Thus ended the reign of the king of the dwarves. The imprisoned king cast a spell and erased the rose garden forever: the splendid roses would no longer be visible neither in daylight nor in the darkness of the night. In their place only bare, solid rocks stood. However Laurin had forgotten to include twilight in his curse about
day and night. And so sometimes it happens that before sunset the pale mountains, around the Cyprainerhof, shine and glow red.
An who knows, perhaps you'll even spot King Laurin during the alpine glowing, the next time you admire the Rosengarten from our 5-star-hotel in the Dolomites :)
